


At Long Last

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: s11e10 My Struggle IV, William is their biological son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 11:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14056224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: Post-ep: Mulder and Scully go home. They talk and they mourn. And then...





	At Long Last

Scully breaks down the minute they step inside the house. All Mulder can do is catch her. Violent sobs tear through her, through him. She shakes in his arms and he tightens his around her. They slip to the ground, together, arm in arm, grief shared.

“Our son, Mulder,” she sobs, cries, “our son.” He puts his hand on her stomach. A miracle. Another one. Or the first one? His own tears stain his cheeks, fall freely into her hair. He thinks of William. The boy he saw in the hotel room. What did he see in his face? His nose. Scully’s lips. He saw himself in the boy’s face, felt it in his lean frame. The boy is taller than he is. Was. William was. All he ever wanted, for all of William’s life, was for the boy to be all right. Now he’s gone. Just gone. His son. Scully’s words come back to him, unasked. No miracle, an experiment. Their son. Mulder presses his lips into her hair. She smells sweet. How can she smell like sugar, like flowers after all of this. He closes his eyes against the pain, against the emotions that threaten to overwhelm him.

“Our son.” Mulder repeats back to her. William is his son (was, his mind chimes, was) and hers. Whatever short moments they had, whatever happened. 

“He told me… you, I thought. I thought it was you when… he said, he said he knows I love him. Oh, Mulder. I am so sorry. So sorry.” He takes the words from his lips, the kiss one of comfort. 

“Of course he knows, Scully. He knows.” 

“He is our son, Mulder. I’m sorry I-” Mulder doesn’t let her finish and traces her lips with his finger. He wipes away her tears, but they keep coming; too many to kiss away, the pain too deep. 

“I shouldn’t have said that-”

“Sssh, I know, Scully. I know.” He understands. Of course he does. There is no way to prove that William is theirs, his and hers. If only their son was here, now. How can they start a new family with a new baby after all this? It’s impossible. They’re too old, it’s too… there is no explanation. A simple twist of fate. Ironic, really. 

“Mulder, this pregnancy… I don’t know if-” Scully trails off as new new tears fill her eyes. He remembers her telling him when she was pregnant with William, when he was missing, after he was dead, how she was scared her sadness would be transferred to William. This pregnancy, he fears, this miracle will be similar. Only this time he’ll be here every step of the way, for every appointment, for every doubt she has. To ease the pain, the sadness.

“We’ll work it out, Scully. We always do.”

“What would I even do without you?” He forces a smile and it’s enough for her, it seems. She, too, smiles and Mulder bites the inside of his cheek; this smile, he’s seen it not long ago. On their son’s face. 

“Let’s get some sleep. Let’s…” Mulder doesn’t finish. Tomorrow is a new day. The day they start healing, maybe. A fresh start. They’re good at that, starting anew. He lifts her up easily and Scully lets him. He carries her upstairs like a new bride, but there’s no giddiness, no happiness. 

Scully is asleep in his arms, heavy as his heart. He puts her down, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Our baby… babies… William…” She mumbles half asleep, already lost in a dream. Mulder lies next to her, holds her. There are gunshots in his ears, a splash in the water. William, William, William. His eyes drift close, his eyelids like lead. 

“Mulder. Mulder, wake up.” Scully shakes his shoulder, her eyes wide awake and crazy. There’s the shadow of a smile around her lips. 

“What is it? Are you sick? The ba- the baby?”

“It’s William.” Her voice is so full of hope, love. “I feel him, Mulder. He’s alive. I feel him.” She puts her hand on her chest, right over her heart. 

“Scully, I know you want to believe that-” She shakes her head, her belief too strong. She takes his hand and makes him get up.

“I feel him, Mulder. I feel it.” The stairs squeak under their feet as they go downstairs. It’s dark outside, but dawn is almost there, the hope of a new day in the sky, in the air. Scully opens the door and a cool breeze hits him into the chest. Or maybe it’s pain.

Scully stands there, hope apparent in every fiber of her body. He wants to hug her, wants to take the pain off her. 

“Mulder, look.” Mulder follows her voice, her eyes. There in the distance, out of the darkness, is a shadow. His heart misses a beat before it beats faster. William, it says. William, William.

“It’s him. It’s our son.” Scully’s words disappear into the air as she walks towards the boy. He speeds up, too, and Mulder is frozen in place on the porch. He watches as Scully hauls William into her arms. They’re both crying and Mulder knows he must be crying, too. The words Scully said earlier, on the docks, he erases them from his mind. He knew then she didn’t mean them, not a single one. William is their son, her baby. She’s a mother, always has been. He’s a father, too. 

In tentative steps he joins them. William glances at him, his eyes red. 

“He is so tall,” Scully sobs, but there’s no more sadness, “you look like your dad, you look like Mulder.”

“Come inside,” Mulder says, his arms around his son, the love of his life, and their unborn miracle, “come inside, William. You’re home now. You’re safe.” This time the boy trusts him, not saying a word. Scully takes his hand, Mulder the other one. They’re connected, a family. Together, at last.


End file.
